Los Angeles officials considering stay-at-home order after virus cases pass threshold

Officials in Los Angeles County are reportedly considering a stay-at-home order as coronavirus cases exceed a threshold established for determining whether to issue such an order.

The Associated Press on Tuesday reported that LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said an enormous surge of 6,000 new cases has put the county’s daily average above the 4,000 mark.

“From October 31 through November 13, average daily cases increased 108 percent — which is a much more rapid surge in cases than what we saw in the summer,” Ferrer said on Monday.

Should officials go through with another stay-at-home order, it would be the first action of its kind since California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) closed schools and restricted movement statewide in March, the AP reported.

Los Angeles County, with 10 million residents, accounts for a quarter of California’s population, but has reported a third of all coronavirus cases.

“At this rate, our hospitals won’t have any spare beds by Christmas time,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) said of the recent surge.

Like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ferrer this week advised families to limit their Thanksgiving celebrations to only those within their immediate households.

But despite the advisory, millions of Californians are expected to travel for Thanksgiving, mainly by car, the AP reported.

On Thursday, Newsom ordered a monthlong curfew, requiring residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

California is the second state, after Texas, to surpass 1 million coronavirus cases. On Saturday, it reported a record 192,673 cases in a single day.

More than 18,000 people in California have died of COVID-19.